


A Tale of Two Gingers

by MrToddWilkins



Series: The Spaceflight Experience [7]
Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Bernie wins, Canon - Comics & Show Combination, Cheryl and Jason aren’t twins, Chic Cooper is for real, Choni Friendship, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Except The Bad Guys, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love Wins, Fix-It, Gen, Ginger Lopez the Ascended Extra, Ginger looks like she did in the show, Good Geraldine Grundy, Good Hal Cooper, Good Parent Fred Andrews, Good Parent Sierra McCoy, Hiram Lodge Bashing, Jason Blossom Lives, Multiple Pairings, No Dark Betty, No Sisters of Quiet Mercy, POV Multiple, Parents Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Penelope Blossom Bashing, Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe, Rare Pairings, School Dances, School Festivals, a different Serpents plotline, alternate 2016 election, and Jason will get Polly pregnant after the POD, except for Jason and Polly who are entering junior year, more high school stuff than you could shake a stick at, our plots are different, she’s in her early forties here, that means Point of Divergence (from canon), that’s her real name, the Pussycats on tour, there will still be jingle jangle, they’re sophomores at the beginning, this won’t be as dark as actual Riverdale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-10-29 20:10:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17814722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrToddWilkins/pseuds/MrToddWilkins
Summary: The love story of Archie Andrews and Ginger LopezAnd the tale of almost everyone else in Riverdale





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering about this fic’s title,the one ginger is literal (Ginger Lopez) and the other is figurative (Archie is a redhead,and ‘ginger’ is a common slang word for redheads)

Hello. My name is Forsythe Pendleton Jones III,but everyone calls me Jughead. Let me tell you a story. A story of one of the most critical times in American history,and also the chronicles of a town, a small town, and the people who lived in the town. From a distance, it presented itself like so many other small towns all over America: safe, decent, innocent. Get closer, though, and you started seeing the shadows underneath. The name of our town is Riverdale. 

Riverdale was founded in 1915 by Augustus Pickering,a retired US Army colonel with nothing better to do. It is located in (and is the county seat of) River County in Indiana,and it is divided into two sections. The rich people and middle class  live on the northern side of the Sweetwater River,and the poor people live on the south side. The high school is on the riverbank,opposite a great domed building that for two years was my home. 

At the time my story begins,a hundred years after the founding of Riverdale,the local population was about 60,000: 34,000 in Riverdale proper,and almost as much in the suburbs of Greendale,Woodhall,Woodbury,Centerville,and Leeds. A tony stretch of _primo_ Indiana countryside,not too close to and not too far from the Ohio border.

But my story is not about this. My story begins with the attempted murder of Jason Blossom,and all that stemmed from it. It is a tale of riddles in the dark,and of deeds undertaken for no more reason than personal gain. But it is also a tale of the triumph of good,of not-so-secret young love that won,and of repercussions that would spread out and ultimately,if only in their essence,affect an entire state,and with that state its parent country.

 


	2. July 4,2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack:The Gonk
> 
> Garchie meets in this chapter,but romance won’t be happening for a while

It was the Fourth of July,and it seemed to Archie Andrews as if the world,or at least Riverdale,had gone mad. Third Street was draped with bunting,like it apparently hadn’t been since the Bicentennial. The bells of St.Thomas were ringing,for what Archie didn’t know. In the distance,a giant American flag was hanging out of the window of Thornhill’s ballroom. It seemed as if all of Riverdale had turned out to celebrate the Glorious Fourth,something not often seen these days.

It was almost noon,and Archie’s meanderings took him by the high school. As he ascended the steps,he felt somebody bump into him from behind.

”Are you okay,Archie?”

”Do I know you?”, he asked,as he turned around and looked at the girl who had bumped into him. She was a short girl,pretty,with tan skin, long straight brown hair, and brown eyes. Archie knew her from somewhere,but he couldn’t recall where just now.  _Isn’t she one of Cheryl Blossom’s friends?_

“....Gina,right?”, Archie stuttered.

”Close. Ginger Lopez”,she said,offering a tanned hand for shaking. Archie shook it.

”Archie Andrews,but you probably know that by now.”

”Oh,I do. You’re Jughead Jones’ buddy. I have biology class with him. He’s the best lab partner one could ask for.”

” _Is_ he!”

”And I’ll be sitting next to you in history class this year.”

”So,I guess we’d better be friends then. Deal?”, Archie asked as he held out his hand. 

“Deal”, Ginger said as she shook.

———-

In the woods a few feet above the banks of the Sweetwater River,Jason Blossom stirred and woke. His head hurt like someone had been beating a thousand drums in his skull,and his vision was blurry,the Sun seeming to fade in and out of existence. His ears roared with the fury of a hundred Niagaras, and there wasn’t much feeling in his left hand.

How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was the gunshot in the distance,the boat tipping him out. Cheryl had gotten back in the boat,and was going back for help. He had probably grabbed onto a rock,and pulled himself out of the water. But now he was completely dry. From the position of the Sun,it hadn’t been too long since then.

Jason got up,and found that walking wasn’t too difficult. He walked towards the town,following the sounds of Independence Day celebrations. With luck,someone would notice him soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh,and by the way,Clifford is already dead:the shock of the gunshot knocked him into a tree.


	3. July 5,2015

From the  _Riverdale Register:_

**BLOSSOM HEIR INJURED,FATHER KILLED IN MYSTERIOUS HIT-AND-RUN INCIDENT**

_By Eric Valentine_

While most of Riverdale was celebrating the glorious Fourth yesterday,Jason Blossom was almost killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Sweetwater River that claimed the life of his father Clifford,possibly the assailant. According to his sister Cheryl,the incident took place around 9 o’clock yesterday morning,as the two were rowing along Sweetwater just south of the Woodbury quays. Jason was pushed out of the boat by the repulsive action of a gunshot,and returned to consciousness in the wood used by the new ecology class at Riverdale High just before noon. In the meantime,Cheryl returned to Riverdale proper to get help.

Later on in the day,an investigative team headed by Sheriff Tom Keller found an unconscious Clifford Blossom holding an empty Astra Modelo 400B pistol. Blossom was taken to the Woodhall medical center. All attempts to revive him failed,and he was declared medically dead at 10:15 last night. Jason is at Thornhill recovering.


	4. August 21,2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jughead POV - diary entry

Frankly,I’m surprised about this whole Jason Blossom thing. I had my suspicions about Cliff Blossom. He was what my dad would describe as an ‘old campaigner’. Here’s what I know about him:

  * Born March 4,1962, the second son of Charles and Rose (Woods) Blossom
  * Graduated from Riverdale High in 1980
  * Graduated from Riverdale Community College in 1985,with a degree in economic theory in general and Nash theory specifically
  * Graduated from Governors State in 1989,as a non-degree student
  * Served in the Gulf War,as the paymaster of a logistics unit
  * Invalided out of the Army in early 1992 after being (mistakenly) diagnosed with HIV. Returned to Riverdale in September to a hero’s welcome
  * Married Penelope Macintosh in 1994
  * Penelope had a miscarriage in January 1996,when she was four months along
  * Second pregnancy resulted in Jason,born February 5,1998
  * Third resulted in Cheryl,born March 16,1999. No attempts at pregnancy since.
  * Clifford inherited Thornhill upon his father’s death in 2002,as Claudius withdrew his claim in 1995
  * Well-regarded in Riverdale’s social circles. Honorary dean at St.Thomas since 2006,chairman of the Booster Committee since Gregory Svenson retired in 2008
  * Ran for high school principal in late 2009,lost to Waldo Weatherbee
  * Was head of the Blossom Group,estimated income of $44 million per year,which now passes to Jason (with another uncle,Richard Blossom of Galveston,as regent until Jason graduates from Riverdale High)



On the surface,this wouldn’t be much to talk about. But the Blossom Group may be of interest. They’re developing a spaceplane that might make the Rocketplane Kistler launch vehicles obsolete. I’ve seen video of this spaceplane,the _Alpha._ It’s currently being tested at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. So,that might be something to look into.

In other news,the Southside high school has closed down,so we of Riverdale High will have about 40 new classmates this year. That ought to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ’dean of St.Thomas’. If anyone knows what I’m referencing here,feel free to comment.
> 
> A quick timeline:
> 
> Fred Andrews and Mary Andrews got divorced in 2006. Fred met Sierra McCoy in 2007,she moved into the Andrews house at the beginning of 2009,they got engaged that June,and they got married in February 2010.


	5. August 26,2015

In the early morning,Archie was wandering about his living room,wearing only a shirt and underwear. A thin patina of sweat cling to his forehead as he jogged lightly around the house. Last night had been the third night he hadn’t been able to sleep. It had to be the heat.

But there was another factor to it:Ginger Lopez. He’d hardly been able to say he knew her before the Fourth. Oh,sure,they’d sat ahead of each other in third grade,Archie between Mark Allison and Beth Archer and her between Veronica and Chrissy Lorent,and she’d made a habit of passing notes to him from Betty,but that had ended in fifth grade. Since then,they’d probably worked on a few projects together. He knew she was a cheerleader and their grade’s representative on the school booster committee,a position that Chuck was set to have in the coming year,their sophomore year. He wasn’t even surprised that he’d called her Gina:that had just been a momentary brain fart.

But what surprised him was that....he liked her. Quite a bit,actually. She was rather cute,with those puppy dog eyes of hers and her long brown hair. She was probably the athletic type as well,since she was a cheerleader. And she was probably quite a bright person as well. All were qualities Archie happened to like.

He decided that he had to call her. First,he had to look her up in the Riverdale phonebook. An ‘E.Lopez’ lived on West Street. This was probably her father. He dialed the number on his iPhone.

A woman’s voice answered. “Who’s this?”

”A-Archie Andrews. I’m a friend of Ginger’s. Is she there? I’d like to speak to her.”

“Yes. She just got back from breakfast at Pop Tate’s.”

There was a sound of rustling in the background,then....

”Hello,Archie. What’s up?”

”I was wondering if you’d like to go to Pop’s with me sometime.”

”Let me check......I think I found the perfect opportunity. Chuck and Nancy are going to Pop’s on Friday and Nancy invited me as a plus one. She said I could bring a date if I wanted. I’ll tell her you can come.”

”Okay. By the way,who was I speaking to earlier?”

”My mom. Her name’s Alicia.”

”Bye.”

”Bye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the actual ‘date’. It’s the longest chapter yet,around 1.5k in draft form,maybe closer to 3k when actually posted.


	6. August 28,2015

Two evenings later saw Archie checking himself out in the mirror for the fourth time that day. He was wearing a blue-and-red striped shirt over his old football jersey,as well as stone-washed jeans and gold crocs. 

“Well,don’t you look good!”,Josie said from where she sat on Archie’s bed.

”You humor me,sis.”

”Aw,c’mon. Archie got _hot!”_

Laughter was being exchanged between the step-siblings when Sierra joined them. She smiled as she sat down on the futon by the window,her hazel eyes twinkling.

”Archie,Dad called to say that he’ll be in Centerville until Monday morning. He also wishes you good luck on your date with Ginger. Can you and Josie be ready to go in a half hour?”

————

Picture Sierra McCoy-Andrews driving her expensive Corolla up to Pop’s,Josie riding shotgun and Archie in the back.

 


End file.
